Goals of the Sickle Cell Scholar program are to provide protected time and resources necessary for a young investigator to pursue original research relevant to understanding the genetics, pathophysiology, psychology or treatment of sickle cell disease. The Sickle Cell Center will facilitate productive interactions between the Scholar, other members of the Sickle Cell Center, the medical community of Boston and sickle cell disease investigators throughout the nation and provide an infrastructure to allow the Sickle Cell Scholar ultimately to pursue a career of peer-reviewed independent research. A career plan will be individualized based upon the interests and ambitions of the candidate. The opportunity for the scholar to engage in either basic or clinical , research will be available. However, a particular focus of the center is to foster career development of physician-scientists committed to clinical translational research. Available at our institutions are many courses and seminar series on conducting clinical or basic investigations,including bioethics, biostatistics and epidemiology. Training programs, including the NIH-funded K30 award are available to individuals with an !interest in clinical or translational research. This program focuses on approaches to clinical investigation and provides basic quantitative and study design skills essential for clinical investigations. One year before the term of our current Sickle Cell Scholar ends, investigators of the sickle cell center will be notified of the recompetition of the Scholar position and asked to search for promising candidates who meet the criteria for the Sickle Cell Scholar. A special committee will review the applications and recommend a candidate to the Center Director, based on: quality of science proposed; likelihood of a continuing career in biomedical science relevant to sickle cell disease; relationship to ongoing research in the center, mentor's credentials and training record; suitability of the mentor-trainee relationship; training and record of the candidate; institutional support for the position.